Mason&#39;s corner plumb and gage.



H. J. McKNlGHT.

MASONS CORNER PLUMB AND GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17. 1913.

Patented July 6, 1915.

g SHEETS-SHEET H. 1. McKNlGHT.

MASON'S CORNER PLUMB AND GAGE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 17. 1913.

Patented July 6,1915.

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COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPM CO.WAS HINQTON. D. c.

UNITED @T'A E% rarnn MFFfiE.

MASONS CORNER PLUMB AND GAG-E.

Application filed June 17, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. McKNIGHr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Shelburne Falls, in the county of Franklin and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Masons Corner Plumbs and Gages, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a plumb gage for the use of masons at the corners or sides of brick Walls or chimneys to keep the walls plumb and the courses at adjacent corners on the same level.

In constructing my plumb gage I provide a supporting frame, a graduated staff set in the frame and means in the frame for bringing the stafi to plumb, and other means for attaching or clamping the frame to a brick laid in a wall. The frame is provided with a fixed transverse, inwardly projecting plate, and with a transverse clamp-plate pivoted in longitudinal slots, so that it may be adjusted for clamping bricks of difierent thickness, between it and the fixed plate. The staff is provided with a scale so that each mason on his corner may always lay the courses of bricks to a certain and uniform height. That is, if the mason is laying a course 2% inches thick, including the mortar, he may, by working to the scale on the staff, make the corners of uniform thickness or height; and two masons working on adjacent corners may keep the courses to the same level. This is evidently advantageous for the reason that in the ordinary practice of brick laying the mason on one corner may gain or lose an inch or more in laying up five to ten courses. In this case it is necessary to bring the wall to a level by the use of more mortar between the succeeding courses on one corner and less on the other. Another advantage of my gage is that the mason can always keep the corners or other part of a wall absolutely plumb. In the present practice the mason, after laying up three to five courses, takes his level and plumbs the work, and often finds it necessary to disturb the brick by either pounding them in or out, in order to bring them to plumb, thereby disturbing the mortar which has begun to set. The mortar thus disj turbed will never set hard. The bricksmay ilbe so loosened in this f practice that they can be removed from the corners of the wall 1 ter the building is constructed.

The; principal object of my. invention,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1915. Serial No. 774,142.

therefore, is to provide a convenient and effective implement for enabling masons to quickly lay up brick in walls, and particularly at the corners, perfectly plumb, and for keeping the courses in two adjacent corners on the same level, so that it will not be necessary to level up one of the corners with mortar, or to move or adjust any brick after being laid, and thus weaken the partially set mortar.

One of the special objects is to provide for clamping the supporting frame to bricks of difierent thickness by means of a longitudinally adjustable transverse clamp-plate, pivoted in the frame and operating in conjunction with a fixed transverse plate to engage a brick between them.

Another special object is to provide for pivotally supporting a gage staff in the frame and provide adjusting screws at different angles in the frame, bearing on the lower end of the staff, for adjusting it in different vertical planes and holding it in the desired position.

The matter constituting my invention will be defined in the claims.

I will now particularly describe the details of construction of my invention by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my plumb gage. Fig. 2 represents a front ele-- vation. Fig. 3 represents a vertical central section through the frame. Fig. 4 represents a transverse section on line 4:4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 represents a transverse section on line 5-5, Fig. 2.

In constructing my plumb gage I provide a supporting frame l,-preferably of cast metal, having a cylindrical enlargement 1 at the top and a longitudinal channel and opening 3 through the front wall, as shown in Fig. 2. The frame is provided at the top with a fixed transverse inwardly projecting plate 2, which may be slightly inclined inward and downward, as indicated in Fig. 1. The side walls of the frame are connected by a bottom plate 2, provided with openings for a clamp-screw and an adjusting screw. The front edges 3 of the side walls of the frame are thickened and made straight and flat, as shown in Fig. 2, for giving increased strength and forming a flat bearing surface. The opposite walls are provided near the lower end with longitudinal guide-way slots 6 for pivotal pins 5.

Atransverse clamp-plate 4, having a bent rearward lever 4 in the channel 3 is enopposed sides, near the of the frame,

gaged by a headed pivot pin 5 in the guide slots 6. The rear end of lever 1 has a hole and a transverse groove for receiving the clamp screw 7 and its cross bar 7. A bent keeper pin 9 holds the bar in its groove and secures the screw to the lever. The clampscrew 7 passes through an opening in the plate 2 and is provided with a wing nut 8 for drawing down the lever and setting the clamp plate 1 against a brick, which may be clamped between it and the fixed top plate 2. The longitudinal opening 3 in the front wall and the straight flat edges 3 of the opposite walls form a guide-way for the clamp-plate 4L and its rearward lever 4?, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. An adjusting screw 12 passes through a screw threaded opening in the bottom plate 2, Fig. 3, and bears againstthe lever 4: at its pivotal pin 5, for adjusting the clamp-plate and lever in the desired position in their guide-way with reference to the fixed plate 2, for engaging bricks of different thickness.

The gage staff 16 may be a little more than three feet long, so as to have a three foot graduated scale, andis provided at its lower end with an enlargedcylindrical extension 17 which projects down into the hollow frame and serves as a bearing for three adjusting screws, as shown in Fig. 5. Near the lower end of'the staff and at its back edge is secured a bracket 19, on which are mounted, at right angles, one to the other, two spirit levels 20 and 21, which will indicate when the stafi is in a vertical position. At the inner end of the staff 16 is cut a graduated scale 22, indicating inches and parts thereof, or other kind of long measure.

The gage staff is supported in the frame on two transverse pivotal supporting screws 13, and for this purpose is provided in its lower end, with two conical bearing sockets 18, Fig. 4. The sockets are preferably made in the downwardly extending plates of the bracket, which plates are riveted to the staff. The pivotal supporting screws pass through diametrically opposite screw-threaded openings in the cylindrical part 1 of the frame and have conical points which engage with the sockets 18, and serve to support the gage staff so that it may be readily adjusted in different vertical planes and held in the desired position by adjusting screws which bear on the extension 17 below. The two diagonal adjusting screws 14, Fig. 5, and the rear adjusting screw 15 pass through screwthreaded openings in the cylindrical part 1 and converge in radial lines so as to bear at their ends at equidistant points, on the cylindrical extension 17. The

cylindrical or circular form of the part 1 of the frame permits of the radial arrangement of the screws. By means of this construction and arrangement the gage staff may be quickly adjusted and held in any desired position in the frame. Thus it may be held vertical in laying up a vertical wall, or it may be held inclined inward for laying up a wall that tapers or batters. The gage staff is supported with its inner edge fiush with the front edges 3 of the frame, so that the edge may be set up to a corner of any angle, or to the flat face of a wall. The implement, by reason of its construction, may be clamped to a brick, either at a corner or in the flat face of a wall, and successfully used in laying up a perfectly plumb and level wall.

This plumb gage is very convenient to use and will greatly facilitate the work of a mason. At the corner of a foundation wall the supporting frame may be placed with the edge of the gage staff at the corner of one or more bricks and with a brick between the fixed plate 2 and the clamp-plate 4. Now by turning up wing nut S on the clampscrew 7 the rear end of lever A will be pulled down and the clamp plate operated to clamp a brick between it and the plate 2, thus holding the implement in place. The staff will now be brought to plumb, or a vertical position by means of the adjusting screw 15 and the pair of adjusting screws 11-, the mason being guided in this adjustment by spirit levels 20 and 21. This operation can be quickly performed, as usually very little adjustment will be required. The inner graduated edge of the stalf 16 will. be exactly at the corner where the succeeding courses of brick are to be laid. The corners having been correctly started at the foundation, as above described, and the plumbgage used in laying up succeeding courses, all corners of the wall will be kept at a uniform level and perfectly plumb. The implement can with equal facility be clamped to a brick in the flat face of a wall and be used in laying up succeeding courses plumb and level.

One of the advantages in using this plumb gage is the saving of time, for each mason, usually occupied by him in plumbing corners in the old way. Another advantage is that, by its use the mason, after having laid up courses of brick to the height of the staff, can sight each way from the corner and see that the walls are laid perfectly true. By keeping the walls and corners perfectly plumb and level it will not be necessary, as heretofore, for the mason to pound the brick in or out to bring them to plumb and thereby disturb the mortar which has begun to set. Another advantage of this gage is that an ordinary brick layer, by its use, can lay up his cornersand keep them true, whereas a skilled mason will be required to do a satisfactory job according to the present practice.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a plumb gage, the combination with a supporting frame having a fixed transverse inwardly projecting plate, of a transverse clamp-plate projecting inward below the fixed plate and having a rear lever pivoted in the frame, a screw carried by the frame bearing on the lever to operate the clamp-plate, a gage-staff supported on, and projecting into, the frame, and means in the frame bearing on the lower end of the stafl for adjusting it in different vertical planes and holding it in the desired position.

2. In a plumb gage, the combination with a supporting frame having a fixed transverse inwardly projecting plate, of a transverse clamp-plate projecting inward below the fixed plate and having a rear lever pivoted in the frame, a screw carried by the frame bearing on the lever to operate the clamp plate, a gage staff having opposite bearing sockets at its lower end, opposite pivotal screws in the frame, engaging with said sockets, and means on the lower end of the staff for adjusting it in different vertical planes and holding it in the desired position.

3. In a plumb gage, the combination with a supporting frame having a fixed transverse inwardly projecting plate and provided with longitudinal guide-slots, of a transverse inwardly projecting clamp-plate having a rear lever provided with a pivot pin passing through the guide slots, a screw carried by the frame for longitudinally adjusting the lever and clamp plate in the frame, a screw bearing on the lever for causing the clamp-plate to bear on a brick between it and the fixed plate, a gage-staff supported on the frame, and means bearing on its lower end for adjusting it in different planes and holding it in the desired position.

4. In a plumb gage, the combination with a frame having means for clamping it to a brick, of a gage staff having opposite pivotal bearings at its lower end, opposite pivotal screws in the frame engaging with said bearings, adjusting screws at different an- C'opies of this patentmay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the gles in the frame and bearing on the lower end of the staff for adjusting the staff in difierent vertical planes and holding it in the desired position.

5. In a plumb gage, the combination with a supporting frame having a front guideway opening and longitudinal guide slots in its opposite walls, of a clamp-plate having a rear lever in the guide-way, a pivotal pin engaging the lever with the guide slots, an adjusting screw carried by the frame bearing on the lever to adjust it in the guideway, a transverse fixed plate and means bearing on the outer end of the lever to operate the clamp-plate for engaging a brick between it and the fixed plate.

6. In a plumb gage, the combination with a supporting frame, having a partly circular hollow upper end and opposite pivotal screws therein, of a gage staff having bearing sockets in its opposite sides and an extension in the hollow frame, adjusting screws in the circular part of the wall bearing at different points on said extension for adjusting the staff in different vertical planes and holding it in the desired position, and means in the frame for clamping it to a brick in the wall.

7. In a plumb gage, the combination with a supporting frame having a fixed transverse inwardly projecting plate, a front guide-way opening and opposite guide slots, of a lever pivoted in said guide slots and having an inwardly projecting clamp-plate, a screw carried by the frame for longitudinally adjusting the lever and clamp-plate in the guide-way, a second screw loosely engaging with the outer end of the lever for operating the clamp-plate, a gage-staif pivotally supported in the frame and having on it two spirit levels at right angles, one to the other, and means in the frame bearing on the lower end of the stafi for adjusting it in different vertical planes and holding it in the desired position with reference to the frame.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY J. MOKNIGHT. Witnesses:

BENJ. J. KEMP, FRANK E. INNIs.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

